三、文意選填: Homo erectus child, whose fossilized mandible and dentition were unearthed more than four
decades ago, helps archaeologists to rewrite our ancient ancestors’ ecological story. Meticulously
analyzed __(21)__ cutting-edge imaging techniques, this precious paleontological find has provided
incontrovertible evidence that our evolutionary forebears successfully adapted to and even
flourished within the rarefied confines of high-altitude environments, challenging the long-held
notion that they were inexorably __(22)__ to the warm, tropical lowlands of Africa. Collaborative efforts by an eminent team of archaeologists and paleontologists have firmly
placed the age of this fossil specimen at approximately two million years, a revelation that
significantly antedates previous estimates. This temporal __(23)__ lends credence to the hypothesis
that Homo erectus, the most successful and long-lived of all human species, had already established
a firm foothold in the rugged Ethiopian highlands __(24)__ this juncture, likely __(25)__ the
rudimentary Oldowan tools found in association with the remains. Moreover, the researchers’ analyses suggest that this __(26)__ individual, affectionately
dubbed “Little Garba,” may have been a member of the Homo erectus lineage, marking the first
known appearance of this pivotal hominid species in the East African region. This assertion, though
not yet conclusively proven, is lent __(27)__ weight by the discovery of more advanced Acheulean
tools in contemporaneous strata, hinting at the remarkable technological adaptability of these early
humans as they navigated the distinct ecological challenges posed by high-altitude living. The implications of these findings are profound, for they shed light on the remarkable
ecological flexibility of our ancestors, who were not __(28)__ constrained to the familiar tropical
savanna environments but also demonstrated a capacity to thrive in the comparatively cool and
humid realms of the Ethiopian highlands. This adaptive prowess, the researchers argue, was a
crucial __(29)__ to the subsequent expansive dispersal of Homo erectus across Eurasia, where they
encountered and conquered a diverse array of climatic and __(30)__ domains. In doing so, these
resilient hominins laid the groundwork for the remarkable adaptability that would come to define
the human species’ global dominance. 【題組】28.(AB) further (AC) diminutive (AD) wielding (AE) at (BC) recalibration
(BD) merely (BE) topographical (CD) tethered (CE) through (DE) precursor